Posted June 04, 2025in Business Feature
In today’s highly competitive retail world, customer service can make the difference between keeping customers or losing them to a competitor. Businesses wanting to go the extra mile to satisfy their customers find ways to individualize their services, which may include customizing their products. Whether it is a sharp, custom
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Posted June 04, 2025in Civic Skinny
Ever wonder how — or if — our elected officials are dealing with Artificial Intelligence and how they are juggling the risks and benefits for their constituents? The National Conference of State Legislatures recently released a tool showing Artificial Intelligence legislation by state. In 2025, 48 states and Puerto
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Posted June 04, 2025in Political Mercury
Rob Sand knows the outcome at the polls next year depends not just on how Iowans respond to him, the gubernatorial candidate atop his ticket, but Democrat voters themselves. Do voters see everyday Democrats down the street as kind, reasonable and approachable, or hostile and impossibly entrenched? In one of
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Posted June 04, 2025in Film Review
As adulthood unfolds — spouses, careers and responsibilities consume our time — forging new friendships feels less like an inevitability and more like an absurd social experiment. Andrew DeYoung’s “Friendship” leans into that absurdity with the unhinged comedic brilliance of Tim Robinson, delivering a cringe-worthy, laugh-out-loud exploration of male connection
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Posted June 04, 2025in Food Dude
In 1903, brothers Francesco, 21, and Luigi, 17, Graziano left their Calabrian hometown San Morello to emigrate to the U.S. Like many Calabrians before them, and many more later, their way winded to Des Moines. They found jobs working for the Great Western Railroad until 1912. Then they decided that
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Posted June 04, 2025in Des Moines Forgotten
In 2009, I was an arrogant 24-year-old who was cutting my teeth in the film industry and getting to know the lay of the land in the Des Moines market. One name that came up constantly was Mike Pace. I even saw his name on a building that read “Mike
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Posted June 04, 2025in Joe's Neighborhood
“Directly beneath me, in this hotel’s rubble-strewn basement, a massive concrete chamber has been discovered and there is evidence to suggest that that vault once belonged to Al Capone, the richest and most powerful gangster of his time.” So began Geraldo Rivera on April 21, 1986, in a much-watched live
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Posted June 04, 2025in Center Stage
Thanks to its strategic development, Des Moines Performing Arts is able to accommodate the needs of Broadway’s biggest national touring shows. “Hamilton” is such a show and returns after its inaugural three-week run in 2018 for an eagerly anticipated two-week run in June. A tradition of being able to
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Posted June 04, 2025in Sound Circuit
The year 1997 is remembered for the release of the movie “Titanic” and the first “Harry Potter” novel. In the music world, the most played rock song was “If You Could Only See” by Tonic. Tonic’s success continued with six more top-10 singles, two Grammy nominations and millions of records
Read More →“The Ritual” [NYR] | 98 minutes Director: David Midell Writers: David Midell, Enrico Natale Stars: Al Pacino, Dan Stevens, Ashley Greene “The Ritual” follows two priests — one questioning his faith (Dan Stevens) and one reckoning with a troubled past (Al Pacino) — who must put aside their differences to
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